by Cynthia Chow

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an audiobook download copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

After over 300 years of keeping so much of her life a secret, Zoe Faust is slowly learning to open up to the friends she’s come to love. Now that she’s settled in Portland, Oregon and reunited with her fellow alchemists Tobias Freeman and Nicolas Flamel, she feels supported and comfortable enough to begin a relationship with Detective Max Liu. Although it’s been a bumpy road convincing him that she wasn’t crazy, he now fully accepts that she is a 350-plus year old practicing alchemist.

The last secret Zoe has to reveal to Max is her gargoyle roommate Dorian, although to be honest, she’s done her best to insist that what she’s been telling him isn’t just a joke. Dorian himself is thrilled for the introduction, whipping up a very labor-intensive gourmet meal in addition to the baked goods he supplies to local businesses. Unfortunately, their planned dinner is put on hold when Max’s The Alchemy of Tea store is fire-bombed before it even has its grand opening. Even worse is that the primary suspect is the man who threatened the shop earlier, Max’s own father Andrew Liu.

Even though Max isn’t particularly surprised that his disapproving father literally torched his son’s ambitions, Zoe doubts whether Andrew is truly guilty. She’s proven right when it turns out that despite his confession, Andrew actually had an alibi clearing him for the crime. So the real questions become why he confessed, who he is covering for, and who stole the expensive, hand brewed tea out of Max’s store. The only ones aware of the tea’s existence were the Posh and Punk Rock Tea Club, a group of tea enthusiasts as eccentric as their name. Always enthusiastic about investigating as research for his typewriter-written manuscript, Dorian hitches a ride when Max and Zoe venture into a member’s home castle. Dante West’s “Dante’s Inferno” home includes a plant nursery with its own rather ominous name, and Zoe is alarmed that the Carpathian Conservatory is filled with poisonous and carnivorous plants. When one of their members is found lying dead inside, Dorian’s imagination goes off the rails while Zoe attempts to track down a more human culprit.

This seventh in the series has an established mythology that feels natural and even new readers will feel welcomed to drop in. Since natural healers and herbalists have become the norm, Zoe has given up much of her alchemy practices and focuses instead on running the antique store selling the treasures she acquired during her long life. Chapters beginning with Dorian’s gothic horror manuscript are a delight, as his overly-dramatic writing incorporates the rather eerie plant creations sewn together by Dante’s wife. Now that Max has recently learned of his own familial ties to alchemy, Zoe is able to help him adjust to the alchemy practice that is based in transformation that should be natural and not forced or with ill intentions.

Dorian’s adventures with the teenagers who fully accept him are always entertaining, as is his love of bringing together the suspects for an often incorrect, but close enough, reveal. Zoe has grown so much since she first appeared as a closed-off and guarded secret alchemist, and seeing her flourish and welcome others into her life has been extremely rewarding. Here readers are given more of a glimpse into Max’s background and his family, making him yet another fully developed character. This unique series continues to be a pleasure to read as it blends an element of gothic horror to these humorous and kindhearted mysteries.

To enter to win an audiobook download copy of The Alchemist of Monsters and Mayhem, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “mayhem” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen December 30, 2023. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.